McConnell Accuses Democrats of Trying to “Bully” Thomas Off Supreme Court

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that Clarence Thomas is “an outstanding justice” and accused Democrats of trying to bully him off the Supreme Court amid a scandal involving his spouse, Ginni Thomas.

After the recent publication of text messages from Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, to then-White House chief of staff
Mark Meadows
about overturning the 2020 election, many Democrats called for Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 riot or from future cases involving former President Donald Trump, citing ethics concerns. Some of the text messages from Ginni Thomas appeared to embrace elements of the Qanon conspiracy theory, including subjecting elected officials and reporters to military tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay facility.

Republicans, for many of whom Clarence Thomas is something of an icon, have largely defended the judge and argued the political opinions of Ginni Thomas have no bearing on the justice’s work on the high court.

In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell said Thomas “is a great American and an outstanding justice.”

“He is faithful to the text of our laws and Constitution. His writing is clear. His reasoning is rigorous and transparent,” McConnell said. “I have total confidence in Justice Thomas’s impartiality in every aspect of the work of the court.”

McConnell argued Democrats are on a “quest to delegitimize the Supreme Court” and that the Thomas scandal is “its latest outlet.”

“Far-left activist groups mounted a public pressure campaign to push Justice [Stephen] Breyer to retire,” McConnell said, arguing they are now conducting “a coordinated effort to nullify the presence of Justice Clarence Thomas on the court.”

“The far Left wants another crack at what they tried and failed to do in 1991,” McConnell said in reference to Thomas’s tense confirmation hearing. “Washington Democrats are now trying to bully this exemplary judge of 30-plus years out of entire legal subjects, or off the court entirely.”

McConnell called arguments from some House Democrats that Thomas should be impeached “performative.”

“This clumsy bullying from the political branches is beyond the pale,” McConnell said. “The justice and the entire court should feel free to ignore it.”

“Justice Thomas is an exemplary jurist who has modeled fidelity to the rule of law for more than 30 years and counting,” he said. “I hope none of the justices give any of the radical Left’s various pressure campaigns a minute’s thought.”